Dump 2020, Welcome 2021
Last year at this time, I was in Abu Dhabi drinking lemonade by the beach. Today, I am curled under a blanket in bed, listening as my baseboard heaters tick to life, preparing for the second helping of snow in three days and third in a week. We went from trace totals of snow last week to 15+ inches by the end of today. One friend in Nebraska recommended I buy a snowblower. Believe me when I tell you I am planning on it.
Until then, shovels and a lot of layers.
With not much to report, I feel I can update you with just bullet points and then weave in some commentary on my links, and we can get out of here. You know, start getting ready for those big New Years' Eve parties.
Baby walking
We officially have a baby who walks, which I guess makes him a toddler? I spent a lot of time in November trying to record his first steps. Besides, our son has a screen addiction and would just fall to the ground and crawl to me anytime I had my camera on. As a result, when December came, we took to just watching and coaxing him to take those steps. And voila. He did. We have videos of him walking, just not of him taking the first steps. The thing about it is I could have posted a video, written "ELIOT TAKES HIS FIRST STEPS," and that would have become cannon. But you come here for the #realtalk, so I am keeping it real for you.
Would-be thieves
My neighbor sent me a video of a person trying to access my backdoor a few mornings ago. Yep, slid right in my back gate, came around and up the back deck and opened the backdoor screen door. At six AM! Thankfully we were locked up tight with the "true" back door, but that was pretty spooky. I am still trying to figure out how to manage our motion light settings. Sometimes they stay on. Sometimes they don't turn on even when someone walks past. I think the night of the intruder, I just had it in the off position. In any case, I bought some padlocks this morning and locked our fence up from the two front ends. Our third gate has the access point/handle on the fence's alley side, not the yard meaning that if I were to put a lock on it… it would lock me in. Right now, I've piled a lot of snow in front of it, so good luck breaking in now!
Recent baking exploits
I made a trifle for Christmas. Trifles are a traditional English dessert made at Christmas time. In my research about 8 seconds ago, I learned that I was supposed to soak the sponge cake in brandy. I skipped that step. My bad! I also spent Sunday afternoon baking some truly delightful chocolate chip cookies. I skipped the "bake cookies for Santa" thing and instead baked them for Leen. I think she was most appreciative.
With nothing else to report, and because I've already written about my rose, my bud and my thorn, then let's move onto the links. Enjoy.
And if this is where I lose you: Happy New Year. Hope you have a dope 2021.
I heard about Forrest Fenn's treasure in 2017 when a Colorado man died hunting for the loot. Not much of an outdoorsman, I was intrigued by people who a) put millions of dollars of treasure out in the wild and dared people to find it and b) by people who went hunting for treasure. I can count my camping experiences on one hand.
Once in Egypt. Once in Jordan. Once in Canada. Once at my friend's house. Once at Bon Iver's music festival.
I was not destined to find this treasure, but recently, a former med student and Georgetown grad (class of 09) self-outed himself as the "finder." He maintained anonymity for a few months (found the treasure in June), but due to lawsuits, he felt like he was about to be outed and wanted to control the narrative.
The interview you can read here is from December's edition of Outside magazine. The finder is named Jack Stuef, and in it, he coyly talks about his discovery process. He is careful not to reveal the exact location that he found the box for fear it will become a pilgrimage site to Fenn devotees. Instead, he talks about using close read skills to decipher the poem and trying hard to "understand" Fenn and his motives. He didn't use any fancy technology to solve the puzzle. He just listened and thought.
Not “1st” steps, just 1st recorded steps
2. The Hapi App
Full disclosure: I can’t be sure this app is nearly as good as the writer makes it seem to be. About 17% of me thinks this is probably affiliate marketing at play here as it’s very positive and cheery about the use of an app you use to call a stranger and vent. Despite the author’s claim that “these are my honest thoughts,” I remain skeptical.
Nevertheless, if you’ve tried yoga, meditation, sitting in your moonpod, and drinking a lot but still feel super stressed, maybe it’s time for you to try Hapi. According to the author, the Hapi app allows you to call an active listener and just dump all of your anxieties and fears out.
It’s like therapy, I guess.
I don’t know, I’ve never gone to therapy. I hear good things about it and lots of comedians make jokes about it, so I guess if I want to be a comedian, I’ll need to start going. In the meantime, Hapi can be there when you need to complain to someone that your spouse leaves every cupboard/drawer open in the kitchen after using them. Or if you are worried at 4 am that a creeper might be lurking down the alley waiting to trick your spotty motion lights. Lastly, feel free to use the app if you have pain in your arm, so you google “signs of a heart attack” and read that sense of impending doom is a commonly reported feeling and then immediately get a sense of impending doom. Hapi can be there for you.
Try it out. Get back to me. Or read about it here and weigh your options.
If you’re stressed, try a trifle
Or bake and eat two dozen cookies
3. Texas Wedding Photographers Have Seen Some $#!+
I will reserve any out-loud judgment about people having weddings amid an on-going pandemic (I get it, you wanted to bang!). Instead, I point you in the direction of a story from Texas Magazine about wedding photographers in Texas during the pandemic.
It’s a pretty simple exercise. Close your eyes. Think about everything you imagine happening at weddings in Texas (or anywhere, to be fair). Then imagine a group of photographers talking to a reporter about some of the crazy things they have seen and have had said to them in the past nine months. Then imagine the reporter writing it all down. And leaving it to you to determine if the 12 person bridal party and 200+ person guest list was worth it. (If you need help imagining this, head over to Instagram and search #texaswedding to see what happens.)
The title of the story made me think that the reporter would come down hard against weddings in the middle of a pandemic. But I think an editor must have probably said: hey, be careful with this one. Our readership is heavily Texan and, thus, probably went to weddings this summer.
As a result, this story manages to include quotes like, “She recalls one bridesmaid telling her, “I’m a teacher. I have fourteen students. If I’m willing to risk it, why aren’t you?” Another said everyone was going to get COVID eventually, so what was the big deal?” But including things like Weddings are complicated events, and reorganizing them, as many have in the face of COVID-19, is no simple task. And rescheduling a wedding is not just a logistical nightmare: deposits are at stake.”
The story actually focuses primarily on the impact of wedding photographers and their businesses during this pandemic. I think about our photographer Tim Fitch a lot. He bought me a coffee in the middle of our photoshoot and seemed like a nice guy. Whoever he hired to run his Instagram account has done a pretty subpar job of documenting his excellent work, but that’s on him. I wonder if he worked this summer/fall and how this impacted his life. That’s basically the thing I think this story should serve to do. These decisions— open, close, expand, decrease— all have ripple effects that go further than you probably can visualize. If you’re still interested, you can read the full thing here.
Bride. Groom. Photographer
A few hours ago, my friend Rob asked me if the thing I had just asked him about took place on SoMe. This "SoMe" sounded like an insanely on-line community, and perhaps it was some sort of new app that I had never heard of. Being unaware of new things happens often now that I am in my nearly mid-30s and a father. Things happen, and I just miss it.
Did you know there are multiple Jumanji sequels? I mean, wow.
I don't think SoMe is a real thing, despite Rob's wife Megan telling me that many influencers and Gen Y'ers say it.
This long lead-in is to say the newest app you "need to know" about is called Clubhouse. My problem with Clubhouse is that there are an equal amount of well-placed "What is Clubhouse" pieces as there are Clubhouse members/users. Back in May, Wired profiled Clubhouse with mentions of users such as Hannibal Buress, Mark Andreessen and MC Hammer. Now it's nearly 2021, and the app is still "hot." Just take this updated "who's who" of the internet as proof. On the early-December night when Chet Hanks — rapper, internet personality, and son of Tom — joined Clubhouse and hosted a room where he was met with several hours of criticism for his appropriation of AAVE and Jamaican patois.
Can you believe you missed an opportunity to hear straight from Chet about his use of patois?
If it's not clear to you, let me quickly give you my understanding of the app. At present, this invite-only app is a world unto itself. Mix and mingle with guests in rooms where actual conversations happen in real-time and not mentions. It seems like going to a TED talk, but you can talk back to the speaker and maybe direct a conversation to focus on a particular theme or topic. It currently operates like a nightclub, building buzz and having long waitlists to join and is very exclusive. Maybe the payout is there. Or perhaps it goes the way of Google+. Clubhouse explained, here.
Where’s Eliot’s invite to Clubhouse?
My final reading suggestion is actually an audio suggestion. Here is a list of 50 podcasts that started in 2020 that you may want to start listening to in 2021. I think my music listening hit a nadir in 2019, but I can’t say I listened to all that much in 2020 either. When Spotify did a recent round-up of songs I listened to the most, my #1 was a song I played 11 times. My #1 playlist was something called Rockabye Baby, which is popular songs from the last 50 years played calmly and on instruments you might use to soothe a whining baby. I can only vouch for one of these podcasts, which means that I, too, have 49 podcasts that I can look into in 2021. Or you can leave them all behind you and focus on what I am sure will be a great podcast year in 2021. I guess my current problem is a “when do I listen to things” issue. Without a commute and with winter rendering sidewalks unusable, I find myself at home. Eliot doesn’t seem to be that into true crime or sports podcasts, so until I get back on the road, who knows if I have a podcast future.
If you ever want more Sam Content, make sure you are following me on Instagram. Or wait patiently for these bi-monthly dumps. You do you in 2021!
You have NYE plans? What are they??
